Healthcare professionals usually face many ethical dilemmas in their practice especially in hospitals. Sometimes, they do not know whether they should follow their decisions, or follow their patient's decisions. Should there be any serious consequences of a decision made, who is to be blamed? The physician or the patient?
Let's learn about the 4 basic principles of medical ethics:
1. Autonomy
-The patient decides what to do with his/her own body.
-The doctor has to respect the patient's decision even if it appears to be medically wrong.
-For example, the patient has the right to refuse a chemotherapy treatment for his cancer because he does not want to suffer from the side effects. The doctor has to respect the patient's decision to refuse the treatment although the treatment is for the patient's own good.
2. Beneficence
-The healthcare professional knows what is the best for the patient.
-For example, the doctor has to consider both the benefits and harms of a treatment before making the right decision for the patient.
3. Nonmaleficence
-Obeys the Hippocratic Oath that states 'First do no harm',
-Healthcare professional must not cause any harm either intentionally or unintentionally to the patient.
-For example, a doctor must be aware of 'double effect' which means a treatment that is intended for good causes harm to the patient.
4. Justice
-The healthcare professional must be fair when offering treatments to patients.
-The focus must be on the medical care of the patient, not on the financial impact of the healthcare professional.
-However, this can be complicated. For example of issues on justice: Which health professional should help to pay when a patient could not afford a drug treatment?
I hope that all health professionals will always hold on to these 4 principles of ethics in making a decision. Healthcare involves a lot of dilemmas so equip yourselves with these principles for the decision-making process! Good luck and all the best in your medical practice. :)
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